The Scarpetta Factor

With a number of positions as a medical examiner behind her in previous novels, Kay Scarpetta now serves as a CNN analyst and does pro bono work for the ME's office in New York City. When the murder of a Central Park jogger is linked to the disappearance of a wealthy financier, Scarpetta begins to connect the dots. Narrator Kate Reading adds intensity with her multilayered characterizations of all four major players--Scarpetta; her husband, Benton, a forensic psychologist; her niece, Lucy, a computer geek, and her friend and associate, Marino, a tough cop. Darker than previous Scarpetta novels, this installment is encumbered by extensive narrative passages in which the only action is psychological. The point of view shifts among the primary players, and Reading adds appeal by delivering each section in a subtle version of the narrating character's voice. N.M.C. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine